Posted online: Feb 11th, 2010

In the early hours of last Thursday morning, Conor Sinclair left us, after a long battle with illness. You will read many tributes to him and all of them richly deserved.
Conor’s presence when he entered a press room, whether it was the Donegal Post, the Donegal Democrat or the Donegal Times – which he helped establish – was followed by a lively exchange with reporters, editors and staff.
Everybody knew him and he knew everybody. If he was on form, he could pull a story from a rich tapestry of memories and draw you into a tale that was interwoven with fun, wit and humanity.
Conor did not suffer fools gladly and was a man that was as much respected for his independence as was his photographic abilities.
When many others would have been happy to put their feet up in retirement, Conor soldiered on, in a profession where late night functions are an occupational hazard.
At the age of 16, he began his career at the print works in Dunleavy’s in Donegal Town. Like his father before him, he served for a period as a garda. While in the force, he met his beloved Kay in Kilkenny. She left to go to Manchester, but Conor knew what he wanted and followed her there.
There he joined the Manchester police as a motorcycle cop, while training as a police photographer. He then returned to Ireland with his family and set up a local photography business.
Conor was always reliable and his only complaint was that the papers never used enough of his photos.
His great love of jazz and the New Orleans blues manifested itself as he became an excellent piano player and exponent of the harmonica. Shortly before Hurricane Katrina, he fulfilled one of his life’s ambitions by visiting that great American city.
It was probably no coincidence that his final hours in the loving care of the Hospice in Letterkenny and his family coincided with thousands of sightings of a light flashing through the sky – a meteorite.
For Conor was a light that shone brightly in the lives of many Donegal people. His photos painted the stories that were part of the news history of this county spanning three decades.
There are many recollections and many tales. There was the annual trip to the big Photography trade exhibition in Birmingham with his Donegal photo buddies. He will be missed terribly, not only as a news photographer, but as a good friend.
Conor is predeceased by his son Michael and is survived by his wife Kay, daughter Eileen, sons John, Stephan and Kevin, sister Margaret McQuaide, son in law Ciaran Murphy, daughter in Law Evelyn and grandchildren Paul, Emma, Julianne and Yvana.

Michael McHugh
Editor